not everyone needs a four-year degree? gasp!

I wish this message resonated louder and farther: you can have a perfectly excellent career without a four-year degree. Yes, you can:

Those who pursue short-term degrees in high-demand areas are being rewarded with living-wage jobs in our state. And they can reach those well-paying jobs faster and more efficiently (and often with less debt) than longer, less-focused educational paths…. It’s only now in the aftermath of a shifting economy that these critical mid-level occupations in manufacturing, healthcare, IT and other growth areas are gaining the exposure they’re due.

Cindy Zehnder, the blog post's author and current chair of Washington's Workforce Training & Education Coordinating Board, points out that the Evergreen State is actively attempting to engage more students in the education that leads to "middle-skill jobs."

One way we’re forging these connections is through CareerBridge.wa.gov, which features details on nearly 6,300 Washington education programs along with performance report cards (when data is available) on how many students obtained well-paying jobs in the industry for which they trained. Another resource: CheckoutaCollege.com, which ties together the 34 community and technical colleges and their full range of career-focused educational offerings.

It's been five years since I read Shop Class as Soul Craft's incisive critique of the academy's stifling focus on "knowledge work." Sadly, it's taken that long for the critique to reach the mainstream--and largely due to a lingering recession and crippling college debt. If the WTECB's efforts gain traction, and more students turn toward fulfilling careers in critical industries, maybe there's hope for us yet.

Carsten's words

At just over 19 months, Carsten, pictured above, not only has fantastic hair, but an ever-expanding vocabulary. For the sake of history, here's a list of the words he knows how to "say," which reveal more about his family's influence than any of us would care to admit. Since he's learned words in various ways, I've broken down the list into several categories, and included pronunciations, as best as I've been able to translate. This is, of course, a work in progress.


Words + Signs
Mama / Mommy
Dada / Daddy
Ball
Football
Up
Baby
On
Bear
Wind / windy ("bindy")
Duck
Banana ("bana")
Piggie
Tree
Grandpa
Grandma
Cheeks ("geeks")
Wait


Words + Sounds
Puppy (+ "Arf Arf")


Signs + Sounds
Bear (plus "roar")
Lion (plus "roar")
Tiger (plus "roar")
Cow (plus "moo")
Horse (plus "neigh")
Frog (plus "ack ack")
Car (plus "broom broom")


Names
"Nanda" (Miranda, his oldest sister)
"Gaga" (Keira, his other sister)
"bitsy bitsy" (the Itsy Bitsy Spider)


Signs Only
Help
Eat / Food
Squeezie Packs (a made-up sign that I taught him; he pretends to squeeze near his mouth)
Milk
Diaper
Hot
Cold
Computer
Silly
Piano
Rain
Sleep
Drink
Socks
Fan
Hurt
Happy
Please
More
Zebra
Hair
Hat


Words Only
Burp (pronounced "bip")
Funny (often goes along with "bip")
Vent (just above his changing table, and so, a constant focal point)
Candy ("dindy")
Truck ("guck")
Yuck ("guck")
Uh-oh
A-choo
Choo-choo
Boo
Bed ("butt")
Bubble
Hockey
Bus ("bush")
Ice
Rug
Pizza
Bite
Cookie
Fry (for "French fry")
Draw ("daw")
Moon ("min")
Meat ("mean")
Pants ("bents")
Blanky ("binky")
Tissue (one he says almost perfectly)
Sofa ("fofa")
Sky ("guy")
Down
Elbow
Knee
Eyebrow
Eye
Eyelash ("eyechah")
Eyeball
Tea
Tie ("die")
Try ("jie")
Bunny

Colors
Orange ("awnj")
Blue ("boo")
Pink
Green ("geen")


Sounds Only
"Mow" (for cat)
"Arf Arf" (for dog)